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ADDRESS 

ADOPTED BT THE 

WHIG STATE CONVENTION, 

AT 

WORCESTER, SEPTEMBER 13, 1848. 

TOGETHER WITH THE 

RESOLUTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS. 

Fellow Citizens : w 

The period is approaching when you will be called upon to perform the 
important duty, and exercise the high prerogative of freemen, in casting your 
suffrages for a chief Magistrate of this great Republic. This duty, at all times 
responsible, is rendered more so at the present time by the peculiar condition of 
the country, and the novel state of political parties. The whig and the demo- 
cratic parties have selected their respective candidates for the Presidency y and, in 
all human probability, one or the other of them will be elected either by the people,, 
or by the House of Representatives. And the practical question submitted to 
your consideration is, which do you prefer ? Which, in your opinion, will best 
promote the welfare of the country, and secure the prosperity of the people,. 
Gen. Taylor, or Gen. Cass ? 

We need not inform you that Gen. Taylor was not the first choice of the 
whigs of Massachusetts. We had a distinguished citizen of our own State, 
whose acknowledged pre-eminence in the whig ranks, and whose tried fidelity 
to the whig cause, through a long period of public service, which he has render- 
ed illustrious by his talents, and useful to his country and mankind, recommended 
him to the confidence of the people of our own State, and the Union. We pla- 
ced him early before the country through our State Convention of September 
last, as a northern candidate, and one upon whom the North and the 
South might rely with safety and hope of success. His claims were urged 
in the National Convention, and if he had obtained the nomination, we 
should have expected the support of the whig party in every section 
of the country. But the claims of another distinguished individual pre- 
vailed ; and the question now is, whether we shall yield that support to 
a citizen of another State, which we should have had a right to demand, if 
the nomination had fallen upon the favorite candidate of Massachusetts. 

In the Convention the North were more fully represented than the South, there 
being but one vacancy from the free, and nine from the slave-holding States. 
The result of that convention is known. Gen. Taylor and Mr. Fillmore have 
been recommended to the people of the United States, as suitable candidates to 
fill the two first offices in the gift of the American people. 

The Whig Platform. — Whigs, the True and Original Free Soil 

Party. 

We approach you, fellow citizens, as Whigs, a party whose views and senti- 
ments are well known. The doctrines we have advocated, and the opinions wt 
have promulgated, cannot have been forgotten; the mutual efforts we have 

1 



a 3 x£<* 






made, and the trials we have endured for the last twelve years, in that cause, 
must have united the whigs in all parts of the country by the strongest ties. 
We have stood upon the grand platform from which our name was derived ; 
and have maintained the rights of the people against executive prerogative and 
usurpation. We have maintained, that, as our government was instituted for 
the good of the people, it was the duty of the government so to regulate the cur- 
rency and the commerce of the country, as to protect the labor, encourage the 
industry, and develope the resources of the Republic ; so to improve our harbors 
and rivers, as to secure the property and save the lives of our citizens ; so to 
dispose of the public lands, as to promote the interests of all the States. These 
doctrines we have affirmed as whigs, and as whigs we cannot now abandon 
them. We believe them to be identical with the prosperity of the country, and 
while we stand by our country's interest, we cannot forsake these fundamental 
principles. 

But, fellow citizens, we address you not only as whigs, but as northern whigs, 
as Massachusetts whigs. We stand where our glorious old Commonwealth has 
always stood, on the platform of free labor, a free press, and free soil. The 
whigs of the North, and especially the whigs of Massachusetts, may rightfully 
claim the appellation of the free soil party. Our whig delegation in Congress 
for more than a quarter of a century, have been uniform in resisting the exten- 
sion of slavery. In 1836, when Arkansas was admitted into the Union, the 
voice of Massachusetts was heard against the slave feature of her constitution. 
The late and lamented Adams moved to amend the bill, and our present worthy 
Chief Magistrate, Gov. Briggs, used this emphatic language on the floor of the 
House, on that occasion ; — " I never can consent, with the views I now entertain, 
to give a vote or do any other act which shall sanction the principle or extend the 
existence of slavery. In the deep conviction of my heart, I believe it to be politic 
cally and morally wrong." During the same Congress, on the bill for rifling the 
mails, for which Mr. Van Buren gave the casting vote, our distinguished Senator 
from Worcester made two able and manly speeches, in which he denounced the 
bill as " establishing an espionage, a scrutiny into the contents of the mail, which 
would violate its sanctity, and frustrate the whole design of it." He regarded 
it as a violation of the freedom of the press, and as a measure which would ena- 
ble the ruling party of the country to exclude from the mail any political infor- 
mation which was thought adverse to its interest. From that period to the 
present, the Whigs in Congress from this Commonwealth have uniformly op- 
posed the extension of slavery, and the encroachments of its power. They have 
advocated the right of petition, denounced the gag rule, and condemned in the 
strongest terms the annexation of Texas. They have voted against the slave 
feature in the constitutions of Florida and Texas ; against the introduction of 
slavery into Iowa, and Oregon, New Mexico and California ; against paying for 
runaway slaves, and in favor of the abolition of slavery in the District of Colum- 
bia, in every form in which it has been presented. All this has been done by 
our Whig delegation in Congress, not from any desire to produce a schism among 
the Whigs, or to build up a new party ; but from an honest conviction that sla- 
very was an evil, and ought to be circumscribed. In this manly course in Con- 
gress — the only field in which the doctrine of free soil can be made a practical 
question, — the Whig party in Massachusetts have nobly sustained their Repre- 
sentatives. May we not then with propriety claim to be a free soil party ? We 
do not pretend that this is the only article in our creed ; we do not wish to be 
ingulfed in a single idea. We know that in the practical affairs of government, 
our rulers must meet almost every question, and we have a platform sufficiently 
broad to cover every great question of national policy. 

As Whigs of this description — standing on this broad platform, we address 
you ; and we call upon you in a cool, dispassionate manner to survey the whole 
ground, to reflect upon the tendency of every measure, and then adopt a policy 
worthy of patriots, and honorable to our ancient Commonwealth. We have 



already said that General Taylor or General Cass would in all probability be 
the next President of the United States. Who shall be elected ? In whose 
hands will the institutions of our country and the liberties of the people be 
most secure ? This question involves the political character of the two candi- 
dates. From a full and careful view of the whole subject, we have no hes- 
itation in giving our preference to Gen. Taylor, and in recommending him for 
your support ; and we are confident that the more you study his character, the 
more cheerfully will you give him your suffrages. 

Gen. Taylor. — His Character, and the Reasons why he should be 
supported by Whigs. 

Though Gen. Taylor was in the first instance brought prominently before 
the people by his brilliant military achievements, yet it is not as a mere military 
man, that we commend him to your consideration. "We are aware that the for- 
tune of a battle may turn upon a mere accident, against which no human fore- 
sight could guard, and hence a single victory does not afford any just criterion 
by which to test the ability of the commander. But when a general, having the 
sole command of an army, is successful, through successive campaigns — when, 
with an inferior force, he is able to baffle or elude the enemy, to advance with 
success or retreat with safety ; to change the whole plan of a battle in the 
very face of the enemy, so as to conform to some new exigency, and to succeed 
in all his efforts — this shows powers of mind of no ordinary character, and those 
intellectual resources which will qualify a man for almost any station. Such 
has been the success of Gen. Taylor ; and we allude to it as furnishing the best 
evidence of those mental endowments which are all important in the Presiden- 
tial chair. Tried by this test, we are confident that Gen. Taylor will not be 
found wanting. 

But while we maintain that military science and operations in the field are 
well calculated to develope the intellect, we are free to admit that the discipline 
of the camp has too often converted the officer into the tyrant, and has led him 
to assume authority, and to' raise the military above the civil power. This may 
be considered the natural tendency of a life in the service. But when a man 
has spent most of his life in the camp, and has resisted all these temptations, 
and is modest, merciful and law-abiding in spite of his military training, it 
furnishes the most conclusive evidence of the soundness of his judgment, the 
benevolence of his heart, and the purity and strength of his character. Such 
we believe to be the case with General Taylor. When therefore we present 
his name to the good people of Massachusetts, we do not present him as the 
mere military man, or victorious general. No, we take more elevated ground ; 
we present him as a man of vigorous intellect, of sound judgment, of warm 
patriotism, of incorruptible integrity, of active benevolence, of personal purity. 
The testimony of men in all conditions and callings, and of both political parties, 
fully sustains this view of his character. They represent him as simple and 
unaffected in his manners, exemplary in private life, industrious in his 
habits, and systematic in the transaction of business, possessing a mind of a 
superior order, with great clearness of perception and firmness of purpose. 
With a high moral sense, he unites stern justice with the most condescending 
mercy ; and by the goodness of his heart and the force of his character, wins 
the affections and commands the confidence of all who know him. 

In politics he is a Whig of the old school, ardently devoted to the constitu- 
tion, and if elected President, the highest object of his ambition will be to ad- 
minister the government on the principles of the constitution, and to walk in the 
footsteps of the fathers of the Republic. 

If there were any reason to doubt his capacity, we would refer you to his cor- 
respondence with the War Department, which, for discipline of thought, maturi- 



ty of judgment, practical common sense, force of diction, and dignified submission 
to the civil power under the greatest personal provocations, is not surpassed by 
any correspondence in the archives of the government. 

We are aware that our political opponents have attempted to make it appear 
that Gen. Taylor has avowed no political opinions, and is committed to no line 
of national policy ; but nothing can be more erroneous. In his letter to Capt. 
Allison, he says : " I reiterate what I have often said — I am a Whig, hut not 
an ultra Whig. If elected I would not be the mere President of a party. I 
would endeavor to act independent of party domination. I should feel bound 
to administer the government untrammelled by party schemes. I have no 
private purposes to accomplish — no party, projects to build up — no enemies to 
punish — nothing to serve but my country." Such is the language of Gen. 
Taylor himself, and we venture to say that no enlightened statesman in the land 
can take exceptions to such principles. Gen. Washington, when a candidate for 
the Presidency, went even farther than Gen. Taylor in this particular. In a 
letter to Gen. Lincoln, March 11, 1789, Gen. Washington said: 

" Should it become inevitably necessary for me to go into the chair of gov- 
ernment, I have determined to go free from all positive engagements of every 
nature whatsoever. This is the answer I have already given to a multiplicity 
of applications ; and I have assigned as the true reason of my conduct, the pre • 
dominant desire I had of being at liberty to act with a sole reference to justice 
and the public good." * 

Here, fellow citizens, we have the example of Washington, and we trust that 
the whigs of this day will be satisfied with what received public approval in 
1789. Gen. Taylor, like his illustrious predecessor, takes the constitution as 
his platform, and desires to go into the chair of government untrammelled by 
party schemes, so that he may better promote the public interest, and restore 
the government to its original purity. We can readily perceive how the mere 
partisan, who is seeking his own personal interest, should object to such a 
course, and repudiate such sentiments .; but for the honor of the whig party, we 
hope that there are but few such to be found within our ranks. 

The present state of the country, and the condition of our public affairs, are 
truly alarming. The encroachments of the Executive upon the Legislative de- 
partment of the government have become the crying political sin of the land, 
and are doing more to defeat the grand objects of our free institutions than all 
other causes combined. We have seen during the reign of the present Execu- 
tive, the power of Congress paralysed, and the will of the people defeated by the 
shameless interference of the President and his Cabinet ; and when bills have 
passed both branches, having for their object the payment of just debts, and the 
security of life and property, the President, by the arbitrary exercise of the veto 
power, has prevented their becoming the law of the land. And while he has 
been laboring to curtail the powers of the Legislative department, he has been 
constantly enlarging his own prerogative by usurpations more alarming than 
any thing which has occurred since the establishment of the government. He 
has assumed the war-making power in violation of one of the fundamental prin- 
ciples of the Constitution. He has instituted civil governments in Mexican 
provinces, and executed Mexican citizens for treason, contrary to the establish- 
ed law of nations, and in defiance of the power of Congress. He has assumed 
the law-making power by levying duties upon our own citizens trading in Mexi- 
can ports. These acts of usurpation, together with the prostitution of public 
patronage for the vile purposes of party, are calculated to create the most seri- 
ous appi-ehensions in the breast of every lover of his country. If such prac- 
tices are tolerated — if such wanton usurpations are not checked by the stern 
rebuke of the American people, our government will soon degenerate into a 
despotism. 

By the election of Gen. Taylor we have the assurance that these abuses 
will be reformed, and that the Legislative department of the government will 



be restored to its constitutional prerogative. He tells us in his Allison letter, 
from which we have already quoted, that it shall be one of his first objects, if 
elected, to confine the veto power to its constitutional limits. His words are 
these : " The power given by the Constitution to the Executive to interpose^iis 
veto, is a high conservative power ; but in my opinion should never he exer- 
cised except in cases of clear violation of the Constitution, or manifest haste 
and want of consideration by Congress. Indeed, I have thought, that, for many 
years past, the known opinions and wishes of the Executive have exercised 
undue and injurious influence upon the Legislative department of the govern- 
ment ; and for this cause I have thought our system was in danger of undergo- 
ing a great change from its true theory. The personal opinions of the indi- 
vidual who may happen to occupy the Executive chair, ought not to control the 
action of Congress on questions of domestic policy ; nor ought his objections to 
be interposed where questions of constitutional power have been settled by the 
various departments of the government, and acquiesced in by the people. Upon 
the subject of the tariff, the currency, the improvement of our great highways, 
rivers, lakes, and harbors, the will of the people, as expressed through their 
Representatives in Congress, ought to be respected and carried out by the 
Executive." Confiding in these declarations of Gen. Taylor, every intelligent 
whig in the Commonwealth must give him his firm and cordial support. 

Gen. Taylor is also a man of peace. Having witnessed the devastation and 
horrors of war, he has pledged himself, if elected, to cultivate friendly relations 
with all nations. In his Allison letter he says, " My life has been devoted to 
arms ; yet / look upon war at all times, and under all circumstances, as a na- 
tional calamity to be avoided if compatible with national honor. The princi- 
ples of our government, as well as its true policy, are opposed to the subjugation 
of other nations, and the dismemberment of other countries by conquest. In the 
language of the great Washington, ' Why should we quit our own to stand on 
foreign ground ! ' " 

In a letter to the Hon. Truman Smith, of the House of Representatives, he 
uses similar language. " I need hardly reply to your concluding inquiry, that 1 
am a peace man, and that I deem a state of peace to be absolutely necessary to 
the proper and healthful action of our republican institutions. On this import- 
ant question, I freely confess myself to be the unqualified advocate of the prin- 
ciples so often laid down by the Father of his country, and so urgently recom- 
mended by him in his farewell address to the American people. Indeed I think 
I may safely say, that no man can put a more implicit faith than I do, in the 
wisdom of his advice, when he urges upon us the propriety of always standing 
upon our own soil." 

Such are the declared views of the whig candidate for the Presidency, and 
we are confident that they must meet a hearty response from every whig in 
Massachusetts. 



Critical Condition of the Country, and Danger of Collisions 
with other Powers, and of having more Acquisitions of Terri- 
tory, and a further Extension of Slavery. — Gen. Cass a Dan- 
gerous Man. — Comparison between him and Gen. Taylor. 

In the present distracted state of the world, when a little indiscretion might 
involve us in a foreign war, nothing is more important than that the man at the 
head of this Republic should be disposed to cultivate peace and friendship with 
foreign powers. We are aware it has been said by our opponents, that the war 
with Mexico is closed, and that our foreign relations are at this time of the most 
peaceful character. But, fellow citizens, we feel bound to say, that there is 
danger, and in our opinion great danger, of further annexations of foreign terri- 



tory, and hence further collisions with foreign powers. The spirit of conquest 
has been excited and inflamed, and the lust of dominion is now cherished by 
the democratic party. 

We have been told that we are destined to rule the continent, and become an 
oce'an-bound Republic. A proposition was introduced into the Senate by a 
democratic member, during the last Congress, for the annexation of Cuba to the 
United States, and that measure is now freely talked of in high democratic circles. 
Within the last six months, the President of the United States has gravely re- 
commended to Congress an armed occupation of Yucatan, one of the States of 
Mexico ; and that too after we had ratified a treaty of peace with that Republic, 
and concluded an armistice by which all military operations were to be sus- 
pended. And this measure, base and treacherous as it was, was warmly advocated 
and strenuously pressed, by Gen. Cass and other leading democratic Senators. 
The new scheme, which has been advertised at New Orleans, under the decep- 
tive caption of a " Buffalo Hunt," has more of reality in it than meets the eye. 
We are persuaded that a plot has been deliberately formed for collecting a large 
armed force in the United States, and entering Mexico for the purpose of effect- 
ing a revolution in that portion of Mexico lying south and east of the Sierra 
Madre range of mountains ; and when these provinces are wrested from that 
weak and distracted nation, we shall be asked to annex them to the United 
States ! In this plot several leading democratic officers who have served in 
Mexico, are said to be engaged, and some of the democratic prints have had the 
unblushing effrontery to justify the measure. 

We do not assert that the Administration are actually engaged in this infa- 
mous scheme ; but judging from their past conduct, we have no doubt but that 
they look upon it with satisfaction. Almost every mail brings us additional ev- 
idence that such a project is maturing. We say then there is great danger that 
before the Chief Magistrate now about to be elected, shall have completed his 
term, some of these mad schemes will ripen into action, and unless great pru- 
dence is exercised, we shall find ourselves engaged in another war for the ac- 
quisition of territory, into which slavery may be introduced. 

With Gen. Taylor for President, we are confident that all such wild and 
wicked conspiracies would receive a stern rebuke. With his disposition for 
peace, and his aversion to foreign acquisition, we are persuaded that he would 
strictly enforce the neutrality laws of the country ; and if any of our citizens 
were bad enough to expatriate themselves for the purpose of exciting rebellion 
in a nation with whom we are at peace, that he would not take them and their 
plunder into the Union as a reward for their iniquity. We feel so confident that 
Gen. Taylor views all such schemes with disapprobation, that we presume that he 
will speak out upon this subject before the election, should any of these plots 
assume a tangible shape. 

But what may be expected from Gen. Cass on these subjects ? We feel con- 
strained to believe that he would give them his support. He was a warm advo- 
cate for that first act of infamy, the annexation of Texas. He has justified the 
President in trampling upon the constitution and commencing a war of conquest 
without the consent of Congress. No member of the democratic party has 
manifested a more belligerent, blood-thirsty spirit than Gen. Cass. When the 
subject was first presented to the Senate, his cry was, " Let us enter- the Mexican 
territory, and conquer a peace at the point of the bayonet — let us take possession 
of the city of Montezuma and dictate our own conditions." In January 
last, when the subject of the war was under consideration, Gen. Cass ridiculed 
the idea that there was any thing to fear even if we should acquire the whole of 
Mexico. " If we should swallow Mexico to-morrow," said he, " I 
do not believe it would kill us. The Senator from North Carolina 
and myself may not live to see it ; but I am by no means satisfied that the day 
will not come in which the whole op the vast country around us 
will form one of the most maqnificent emvires that the world has vet seen." 



Again lie said, "We may have to make the great experiment so dreaded by 
the Senator from South Carolina, and the Senator from Kentucky, and annex 
the D03IAINS OP Mexico to our own. This is the penalty which 
national injustice has often been called to pay, and which Mexico may be pre- 
paring for herself" 

Such are the recorded declarations of Gen. Cass ; and from them it is mani- 
fest that he was not only in favor of this war of conquest, hut that he was for 
dismembering, if not acquiring the whole of Mexico. Nor did his ambition stop 
here. He fondly anticipated the time, when " the whole vast country around 
us " would be annexed to the United States. In accordance with these antici- 
pations, we find him, in May last, advocating the aggressive policy of taking an 
armed possession of Yucatan. 

With such a man at the head of the Nation, we should hardly escape further 
accessions of Territory. He has declared that we were destined to swallow up 
the neighboring nations, and he would, no doubt, regard it as his duty to fulfil 
this great destiny. While Gen. Taylor would consider it as the highest honor 
to stand upon our " own soil," Gen. Cass would be desirous of " swallowing the 
whole of Mexico." While the former would cultivate peace, and strive to 
increase the resources of the country ; the latter, in his thirst for acquisition, 
would direct those resources to the prosecution of foreign wars. 

On the question of the ordinance of 1787, the sentiments of Gen. Taylor are 
believed to be in accordance with those of the Whigs of Massachusetts, 
while those of Gen. Cass are known to be directly opposed to them. The Dem- 
ocratic candidate has told us in his letter to A. O. P. Nicholson, Esq., that Con- 
gress has no constitutional power to exclude Slavery from our newly acquired 
Territories ; consequently he would veto any Bill which contained the provision 
of the Ordinance of 1787. On the other hand, Gen. Taylor has told us in his 
Allison letter, that he should leave all questions of " domestic policy " to the 
action of Congress, and should feel bound to carry out their will. It is true that 
he claims the right of exercising the veto power in cases of clear unconstitution- 
ality; but he says that the President ought not to interpose his objections, 
" where questions of constitutional power have been settled by the various Depart- 
ments of the Government, and acquiesced in by the people." 

Now, if there ever was a question settled by the various Departments of the 
Government and acquiesced in by the people, it must be that of the Ordinance of 
1787. It was affirmed by the first Congress, and expressly recognized in the 
organization of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Oregon; 
and has the sanction of Washington and his successors in office,- and has been 
sustained by the highest judicial tribunals of the country. Here, then, is a case 
where Gen. Taylor would be bound to withhold his veto, in case Congress* should 
pass a Bill excluding Slavery from the Territories. Nor is this all ; he has 
pledged himself not to attempt to influence the action of Congress on this or any 
other question of domestic policy. 

The difference between the two candidates is such as might be expected from 
their relative positions — one being the candidate of the Whig, and the other of 
the Democratic party. Gen. Taylor is a safe conservative Whig ; Gen. Cass a 
radical, reckless Democrat: the one is an open, frank, and honest old soldier; 
the other a sly, artful, intriguing politician : the one would respect the will of 
the people as expressed by their Representatives ; the other would trample it 
under foot : the former is a friend of peace ; the latter, an advocate for war : 
the one would stand upon our own soil to improve it ; the other would grasp at all 
the country around us. In a word, Gen. Taylor would labor to restore our 
Government to its original purity, by copying the example of Washington, Adams 
and Madison ; while Gen. Cass would depart from every principle of the Con- 
stitution by following the example of James K. Polk. 

Gen. Cass has, by adopting the Resolutions of the Baltimore Convention, en- 
dorsed every act of usurpation of which the present Executive has been guilty ; 



8 

and in a speech made on his return to Michigan, he said " our triumph will be 
an approval by tbe country of the present administration, and will give direc- 
tion to the one which shall succeed it." The election of Gen. Cass, therefore, 
will be an approval of all the abominations of James K. Polk, and a perpetua- 
tion of his corrupt administration. 

Whigs of Massachusetts, we have thus presented for your consideration, the 
characters and political sentiments of Gen. Taylor, and Gen. Cass, the two can- 
didates from which a selection will be made for the Chief Magistracy of the next 
four years. And we ask you to exercise your judgment, and choose with delib- 
eration. Let no preconceived opinion, no hasty resolve, influence your final 
action, but having surveyed the whole field, adopt that course which true wisdom 
may suggest, and enlightened patriotism approve. 



Candidate for the Vice Presidency, Millard Fillmore. 

We have presented to you somewhat in detail the characters and qualifica- 
tions of the two candidates for the Presidency. Thus far we have omit- 
ted to mention our candidate for the Vice Presidency; because the charac- 
ter, moral and political, of Millard Fillmore is known and appreciated by 
every freeman in this Commonwealth. You all remember his services in 
Congress. You are convinced of his distinguished ability, you know his moral 
worth. You all feel perfectly conscious that if elected, and the case should re- 
quire it, he would give his casting vote against the extension of slave territory ; 
and if by any casualty the office of President should become vacant, the inter- 
ests of the country would be perfectly safe in his hands. 



Organization of a Third Party. Its effects upon the Presidential 
Question, and upon the Cause of Free Soil. 

We are aware that there is a third candidate before the people, and that great 
efforts are being made to induce the Whigs of Massachusetts to forsake their 
former friends, and to unite in this effort to build up a third party. Before we 
attempt to inquire into the merits of this new candidate, we will remind you of 
the obvious effect of such an organization, Without this division, the Whigs of 
the country would be able to elect Gen. Taylor ; but if the new candidate shall 
draw more votes from the Whig party than from the democratic, this new or- 
ganization will increase the chances of the success of Gen. Cass. This new 
party has not the slightest prospect of electing their own candidate ; and the 
only effect of the movement must be either to elect or to increase the chances of 
the democratic candidate. We had a full and perfect illustration of this princi- 
ple in our last Presidential election. In 1844, the Whig candidate was pledged 
against the annexation of Texas, and the democratic candidate in its favor. 
The liberty party put a third candidate in nomination, and withdrew so many 
votes from Mr. Clay, as to give the plurality to Mr. Polk, and secure his 
election. This effect was pointed out to them in advance. They were told that 
they would defeat the great object they professed to have in view, and by divid- 
ing the Whig strength, they would bring in the democratic candidate, and with 
him we should have Texas, war, and the extension of slavery. But their blind 
zeal for what they called principle, induced them to persevere, and the evils 
under which we are now laboring, are in a great degree chargeable to their in- 
considerate devotion to party. The votes which were given to the third party 
candidate at that time in the State of New York alone, would, if given to Mr. 
Clay, have secured his election, and have saved the country from the calamities 
which have since befallen it. 



This example is too recent, and its effects have been too calamitous to be 
soon forgotten by the intelligent Whigs of Massachusetts. But, fellow citizens, 
you are now asked to try this experiment again. You are asked now, in 1848, 
to adopt the very policy which, in 1844, brought Texas into the Union, with 
a all our woes." 

The analogy between the two cases is perfect. Now as then the third party 
have not the least prospect of electing their candidate, or even of obtaining a 
single electoral vote. The only effect of their efforts which can be anticipated 
by the most sanguine among them, is to defeat a choice, and throw the election 
into the House of Representatives, where the election must be made by States, and 
where the democrats have three States majority. If this new organization shall 
succeed in withdrawing from the whig party a number sufficiently large to give 
Gen. Cass the plurality in New York, or Ohio, and thereby secure his election 
by the people or by the House of Representatives, they will, we fear, find, when 
it is too late, that they have defeated the very object they profess to have at 
heart. We venture to predict that if Gen. Cass is elected, slavery will be 
extended over New Mexico and California, and in all probability we shall, during 
his administration, have the Republic of the Rio Grande, or of the Sierra Madre, 
or the Island of Cuba, added to the Union. With such additions of Southern 
and slaveholding territory the friends of free soil would be found in a hopeless 
minority at least in one branch of the Legislature, and the glorious cause of 
freedom thrown back ten or perhaps twenty years. 

Nor is it at all improbable that the election of Cass will make sure the defeat 
of the Wilmot Proviso. In case of his election it will be said, that the whole 
question has been submitted to the people, and they have declared that Southern 
citizens with their property shall not be excluded from these territories. That 
argument was found to be all-powerful in the case of Texas annexation, and it 
will be found equally potent in this case. This verdict of the people, together 
with the patronage which he would hold in his hand, and which he would use 
without scruple or stint, would enable Gen. Cass to wield the destinies of the 
nation, and indulge in his favorite scheme of " swallowing " all adjacent territory. 
With this whole subject before him, every true friend of " free soil " should take 
heed to his steps, and beware lest he adopt a policy which will defeat his own 
object, and perpetuate an evil he is laboring to destroy. 



Mr. Van Buren, Candidate of the Third Party — His Character, 
Principles, and Claims for support from Whigs and other Free 
Soil Men. 

But who is the candidate, by whom those who profess to be the exclusive 
friends of free soil, propose to circumscribe the area of slavery ? It is a man 
who has been known throughout the land as " a Northern man with Southern 
principles ;" a man who when Vice President of the United States gave his 
casting vote for one of the most odious slavery measures which ever disgraced 
the Halls of Congress — a bill for rifling the mail, and preventing every pamphlet, 
newspaper, or letter touching the subject of slavery, from being transported 
therein ; a man who when a candidate for the Presidency said, " I must go into 
the Presidential chair the inflexible and uncompromising opponent of any 
attempt to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, against the wishes of the 
slaveholding States," and who pledged himself to veto any bill seeking that 
object ; — a man who when President of the United States attempted the exer- 
cise of an unconstitutional power, in dooming the free negroes of the Amistad to 
perpetual slavery ! This is the " anti-slavery," " free soil " candidate, who is 
presented to the freemen of Massachusetts for their suffrages, by men too who 
profess to make the subject of free territory paramount to every other! They 



10 

call upon you as lovers of freedom to support a man who has shown more ser- 
vility to the slave power than any man in the free States. They ask you as 
whigs, to rally round the standard of a man, who has for the last twenty year* 
been the very embodiment of the most radical democracy. They ask you as 
friends of the protective policy to aid in the election of a man who has pro- 
nounced the tariff of 1842, wrong inprinciple and in its details. As opponents 
of the odious sub-treasury scheme, you are urged to sustain the man who first 
pressed it upon the attention of Congress, and used all his patronage to force it 
upon the country. In a word, the whigs of Massachusetts are urged, in 1848, 
to enlist under the banner of one, who in 1840 was, for his partisan policy, his 
hostility to the best interests of the people, and his political profligacy, con- 
demned, repudiated, and driven from office by the indignant freemen of the 
land, with a voice more overwhelming than any other man in this country has 
ever been doomed to hear. 

But, fellow citizens, you have been told that the old parties have become cor- 
rupt, and that it is necessary to form a new party based upon moral principle. 
But what do these political moralists propose to you ? They propose to take 
for their leaders and guides such men as Martin Van Buren, and Benjamin F. 
Butler, and G. G. Gambreling, whose very names are synonymous with political 
intrigue. 

We do not wish to be uncharitable, but we only speak the sentiment of a vast 
majority of the freemen of the land, when we say that Martin Van Buren has 
done more to corrupt the politics of the country, by banishing moral principle, 
and converting every political movement into a mere game, than any man in the 
nation. The corrupt and corrupting political maxims — '■'•All is fair in poli- 
tics," " To the victors belong the spoils," etc., had their origin with the famous 
Albany Regency, of which Mr. Van Buren was the leader and head. While, 
therefore, we admit that there is too great laxity of morals in both political 
parties, we confess that we should despair of a reformation in a school of which 
Martin Van Buren was the teacher. 

Consequences of the New Organization, and its Effects upon the 
Election of true Whigs and Free Soil Members of Congress. 

But, fellow citizens, you are not only to contemplate this new organization in 
its effects upon the Presidential, but with reference to our local elections. Our 
glorious old Commonwealth has at the present time a full delegation in both 
Houses of Congress, of good men and true, upon the question of free soil. Mr. 
Webster in his late speech in the Senate, and in fact in speeches before popular 
assemblies made years ago, laid down this free soil doctrine of no more slave 
territory. Mr. Davis, in repeated instances, by votes and speeches, has done the 
same. Our delegation in the House has always been as true as the needle to 
the pole on all cmestions connected with slavery. Nor is this any new impulse 
which has seized them within a few months. The Whig portion of our del- 
egation has been true for years. In 1844, a petition from the State of New 
York, praying that the ordinance of 1787 might be applied to all our terri- 
tory west of the Mississippi, was presented, and a motion was made by a 
northern democrat to reject it by laying it upon the table ; and while John P. 
Hale of New Hampshire, and George Ratkbun, and Preston King, and Charles 
S. Benton, and Joseph H. Anderson and Lemuel Stetson of New York, now 
leading Barnburners and bosom friends of Mr. Van Buren, voted in favor of its 
rejection, the names of Adams, and Baker, and Grinnell, and Hudson, and King, 
and Rockwell, and Winthrop are recorded against it. So in relation to the 
annexation of Texas, the entire whig delegation of Massachusetts resisted it to 
the utmost, while these New York free soil gentlemen recorded their names 
in its favor on the final vote. It is unnecessary to speak of our delegation since 



11 

that period. They stand committed in word and deed in favor of the free soil 
principle. In the present House of Representatives we have ten free soil votes 
which can be relied upon at all times. But let this new movement be carried 
into our Congressional elections, and if the free soil party obtain the support 
which they anticipate, the result must be that in most of our Districts there 
can be no election. So that if this policy is pursued, we may go into the 
next House of Representatives, not with ten reliable votes on all occasions, but 
with only two or three. And on the most important questions of the session, 
yes, on the very question of the extension of slavery, we may be defeated by 
the vacancies occasioned by this new organization. We commend this part of 
the subject to the special consideration of all who sincerely desire to prevent 
any farther extension of the slave institution. 

There are a few dissatisfied whigs, who say they feel indignant at the attempt 
of the slave power to extend this institution into territory now free. So do we. 
And we are resolved as firmly as they can be, to resist that unholy attempt, and 
to do all in our power to confine slavery within its present limits. Under 
all the circumstances of the case, we are satisfied that the election of Gen. 
Taylor is the most effectual way of securing the object which we all have at 
heart ; and we advise and forewarn our whig friends, who have formerly acted 
with us, that any other course must end in the election of Gen. Cass, and 
consequently in the further extension of slavery. Such are our convictions, and 
such we believe will be the conclusion to which all free soil whigs will come 
on due reflection. 

We are not at all surprised at the course pursued by the barnburners of New 
York. They are among the most radical democrats of that State, and can 
naturally support Mr. Van Buren. We are not surprised at the course pursued 
by the leading abolitionists of this State ; they also are all democrats, and can 
without scruple support Mr. Yan Buren, especially when by so doing they 
can distract the whigs, against whom they have been arrayed for years. But 
how sound and consistent whigs, or sincere and intelligent liberty men, can yield 
their support to Martin Yan Buren is more than we can comprehend. 

Fellow Citizens, though we have already extended this address beyond our 
original design, we cannot conclude without putting you upon your guard affainst 
some of the insidious attempts that are being made to draw you from the sup- 
port of Gen. Taylor. You will be told, as you have been, that he is not a Whig, 
and hence Whigs cannot support him with consistency. You are aware that he 
has said repeatedly that he is a Whig, and in his letter of July 21, 1846, to 
Wm. E. Russell, he uses this strong language : " 1 am a Whig, and shall ever he 
devoted in individual opinion to the principles of that partg." But who are 
those that object to Gen. Taylor, because he is not a Whig ? They are the very 
men who have given in their adhesion to Martin Yan Buren, the Prince of 
Democracy. 

A labored attempt has been and is still made to convince the freemen of 
Massachusetts that Gen. Taylor is known to be so devoted to Slavery and 
the slave power, that the whole South, without distinction of party, will give him 
their support. No representation can be more unfounded. The friends of 
Gen. Taylor have never relied upon South Carolina, and Texas and Missouri, 
and those Southern States which are thoroughly democratic. They have 
maintained that Gen. Taylor's personal popularity might secure him some of the 
Southern States, which were democratic by a small majority ; beyond this they 
never had any hopes of southern support. They have seen from the first, that 
the southern democratic press, with the Union at their head, have charged Gen. 
Taylor with being in favor of the Wilmot Proviso : and the late speech of Mr. 
Calhoun at Charleston, shows most conclusively that the leading spirit of the 
South has far more confidence in Gen. Cass than in Gen. Taylor, so far as Sla- 
very is concerned. 

Another artifice which has been resorted to is, to represent that Gen. Cass 



12 

has no strength, and will hardly be able to carry a State ; and that conse- 
quently the real contest lies between Gen. Taylor and Mr. Van Buren. This 
is a mere stratagem, designed to lull the whigs into a state of apathy. Believe 
no such representations. The democratic party are making a desperate effort 
throughout the country, and whoever is acquainted with their discipline and the 
power of their drill must be satisfied that they will make a great show of strength 
on the day of trial. Many of those who pretend to favor this free soil move- 
ment, will, after they have induced the whigs to forsake their party, fall quietly 
back into the democratic ranks, and give their votes for Cass and Butler. 

But let not national politics engross your whole attention, and lead you to 
neglect your own Commonwealth. Remember that you have a State to save, 
as well as a -nation to redeem. It has always been the pride of our good citi- 
zens that we have had an enlightened conservative government at home, what- 
ever may have been the character of the General Government. Although 
there are questions of National policy upon which there may not be an entire 
unanimity among the Whigs of Massachusetts, no real difference can exist with 
regard to the policy of our own State, or the candidates whom we have selected 
to administer its government. We present for your suffrages a tried and faith- 
ful Whig, who knows your interests and will, with fidelity, protect them. With 
George N. Briggs at the head of our affairs, we shall all feel that the honour 
of the Commonwealth will be preserved, and her welfare promoted. And we 
present him to you not only as a man of great personal worth, but as an expe- 
rienced and excellent Chief Magistrate, whose past services are known and 
appreciated by all. We present him to you not only as a whig, but as a " free 
soil " whig — and one who many years ago declared his attachment to the free 
soil principle, not as a mere speculative abstraction, but as a practical truth by 
which his own actions were governed at that time, and have been governed 
since. With him is associated another long-tried and faithful officer in whose 
integrity, moral and political, the public have the most entire confidence. He, 
too, is a whig of the " free soil " stamp, and has labored in that cause when 
Martin Van Buren and many of his recent converts were bowing to the slave 
powar, and courting the favor of slaveholders. But we will not consume your 
time^n setting forth the merits of these men. George N. Briggs and John 
Reed are well known to you, and knowing them, we are confident that you will 
give them your cordial support. Can any Massachusetts Whig prefer Stephen 
C. Phillips to George N. Briggs ; or John Mills, whose vote contributed to the 
election of James K. Polk as President, and the annexation of Texas, to John 
Reed? 

Freemen of Massachusetts, you have a great and important work to perform. 
The whigs of other States are looking to you with the deepest interest. They 
know that the old Bay State has always been true to herself and to the country, 
and has never failed to do her duty in the day of trial. They expect that you 
will sustain your well-earned character, and not be found wanting in this trying 
emergency. You have it in your power to choose your electors by the people, 
and thus save yourselves from the disgrace of momentary defeat, and the Com- 
monwealth from the expense of an extra session of the Legislature. For your own 
credit as a whig State, for the honor of the party to which you belong, for the 
success of the great cause in which you are engaged, and for the welfare of the 
country of which you are a constituent part, we call upon you to come forward in 
your strength, and sustain your principles. At the last Presidential election 
you marched to the polls, after you knew that the battle was lost, and by an 
overwhelming majority showed that you contended for principle. Let your ex- 
ample at that time stimulate you now to the faithful discharge of your duty. 
Then you were not disheartened by defeat, now the prospect of victory beckons 
you on. Reports from all parts of the State and of the country, are of the most 
encouraging character. Having served in the whig ranks, most of our friends 



13 

will be found at their posts on the day of election. The free soil doctrine being 
with them a fixed principle, and not a spasmodic emotion, they will bow at 
their accustomed whig altar, and not be found going after strange gods, — 
which neither they nor their fathers have known. 

We say then, fellow citizens, do your duty with promptness and alacrity. 
As you are enjoying blessings which were purchased by the sacrifices of your 
patriot fathers, so you should be willing to make some sacrifices for those who 
are to come after you. The liberties of the country are in danger. Executive 
power is overshadowing every department of the government. Plots, extrava- 
gant as they are wicked, are already laid to bring into the Union large portions 
of foreign territory, on which to plant • an institution repugnant to every princi- 
ple of republicanism. These evils must be arrested at every hazard. And the 
power to do it, is in the people themselves. Let, then, the freemen of the land 
make one patriotic effort, and show the present corrupt administration that the 
righteous indignation of an injured people will not sleep forever. But what- 
ever may be done in other parts of the country, let old Massachusetts do her 
duty. Let her stand firm, " whoever may falter, or whoever may fly." Let 
her stand firm, and " show the parasites of power, that there is one community 
they cannot corrupt — one State they cannot seduce — one Swiss Canton 
they can never conquer." 



RESOLUTIONS. 



The following Resolves were read to the Convention and unanimously adopted^ 

Resolved, That the Whigs of Massachusetts in 1848, were Massachusetts 
Whigs in 1840, and in 1844 ; in 1840, when, by an overwhelming majority in 
the State and Country, we thrust from the seat of executive power, Martin 
Van Buren, the subservient and unscrupulous instrument of Southern dicta- 
tion ; in 1844, when, by a vote in our own State not less decisive, we spurned 
with indignation the nomination of James K. Polk, and the Baltimore platform^ 
with its progressive principles of war, annexation, and slavery extension ; and 
that now, as in those memorable yeai's, we stand firmly, as we have always 
stood, upon the platform of Free Labor, a Free Press, and Free Soil. 

Resolved, That as Whigs we have, always maintained, as a fundamental prin- 
ciple of our Government, that the legislative branches should be kept free from 
executive influence and dictation ; that the voice of the people should b^heard 
through their representatives in the Congress of the United States, unawed and 
unrestrained ; that the veto power, which is but the expression of one man's 
opinion, should never be exercised, " except in cases of clear violation of the 
Constitution, or manifest haste and want of consideration by Congress." 

Resolved, That we have never surrendered and will never surrender our 
common principles as a Whig party. We believe that our government was in- 
stituted to promote the peace, prosperity and happiness of the people ; that it is 
the duty of the government to regulate wisely the currency and the commerce 



u 

of the country ; to protect the labor and encourage the industry of the people 5 
to adopt and carry out a judicious system of measures for internal improvement, 
to clear our rivers and harbors from all obstructions to navigation and com- 
merce ; to make such a disposition of the public lands as shall advance the in- 
terests of all the States ; to encourage free intercourse and intelligence among 
the people by a reasonable reduction of the rates of postage; and generally by 
a careful, conscientious and far-seeing administration of our public affairs, to 
establish " the healthful and proper action of our republican institutions." 

Resolved, That being impressed with a profound sense of our responsibility 
as the representatives of the Whigs of Massachusetts — that responsibility which 
attaches to our words, acts and votes — we cannot fail on this occasion, as we 
have never failed on any other general assemblage of the Whigs of Massachu- 
setts, to record in the most solemn and deliberate manner, our unqualified oppo- 
sition to any extension of the institution of slavery into new territories, or any 
acquisitions of territory for the purpose of such extension. 

On this question the voice of Massachusetts has been unwavering and uni- 
form ; and never has that voice spoken with higher eloquence and power than 
when our distinguished Senator in Congress, speaking for himself, and for the 
whole People of the Commonwealth, said : " I consent to no farther extension of 
the area of slavery in the United States, and no further increase of slave repre- 
sentation in the House of Representatives." 

Resolved, That entertaining these opinions and convictions, we do most cordially 
adopt and ratify the nomination of ZACHARY TAYLOR, of Louisiana, and 
MILLARD FILLMORE, of New York, as the candidates of the whole Whig 
party of the Union for the Presidency and Vice Presidency of the United States ; 
and believing them to be, in the sense of these resolutions, Whigs, honest and ca- 
pable, we here pledge ourselves, one and all, to make the most unwearied efforts 
to place them in the offices to which they have been nominated. 

Resolved, That while we feel an intense interest in the affairs of the General 
Government, and a confident expectation that our chosen candidates for the 
Presidency and Vice Presidency will be elected ; we cannot forget that Massa- 
chusetts is a Whig State, and that under a Whig administration her people have 
been prosperous and happy. 

In the assurance that GEORGE N. BRIGGS and JOHN REED will, 
by their ability, faithfulness and inflexible integrity, so administer our State af- 
fairs as to insure the continuance of that prosperity and happiness, we again 
present them to the Whigs of Massachusetts as our candidates for Governor and 
Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONVENTION. 



At half past 11 o'clock, the Convention was called to order, by Col. A. H, 
Bullock, of Worcester, and, on motion of Judge Barton, of "Worcester, Hon. 
Joseph Bell, of Boston, was chosen temporary Chairman of the Convention. 

On motion of Mr. Schouler, of Boston, Joseph M. Wightman, of Boston, 
was appointed Secretary of the Convention. 

On motion of Mr. Dewey, of Williamstown, the members of the State Central 
Committee, and the Chairmen of the several County Committees, were requested 
to take seats in the Convention. 

On motion of Mr. George Marston, of Barnstable, the Senators and Rep- 
resentatives in Congress from this State, were requested to take seats in the 
Convention. 

On motion of Hon. Albert H. Nelson, of Woburn, it was voted, that a 
Committee of five be appointed, to collect the credentials of members, and report 
thereon. 

The following is the Committee : Messrs. Nelson, of Woburn ; Dwight, of 
Springfield ; Morey, of Boston ; Willard, of Millbury ; Lowe, of Gloucester. 

On motion of Hon. George Bliss, of Springfield, a Committee of one from 
each county was raised, to report a system of organization and list of officers for 
the Convention. 

The following is the Committee : — Messrs. Bliss, of Hampden, Thatcher, of 
Suffolk, Chapman, of Essex, Wolcott, of Middlesex, Mixter, of Worcester, West, 
of Hampshire, White, of Franklin, Goodrich, of Berkshire, Simmons, of Norfolk, 
Ferry, of Bristol, Hyde, of Plymouth, Doane, of Barnstable, Easton, of Nan- 
tucket and Dukes. 

The Committee on the subject reported the following list of officers for th© 
Convention: 

For President, 
Hon. DANIEL P. KING, of Danvers. 
Vice • Presidents. 
Hon. SAMUEL A. ELIOT, of Boston. 
« DAVID PINGREE, of Salem. 
" HOBART SPENCER, of Ashby. 
" B EN J. F. THOMAS, of Worcester. 
» JOHN HOWARD, of Springfield. 
" ANSEL PHELPS, of Greenfield. 
Gen. H. A. S. DEARBORN, of Roxbury. 
Hon. JOHN DAGGETT, of Attleboro'. 
" ZENAS D. BASSETT, of Barnstable, 
« SETH SPRAGUE, of Duxbury. 
" ITHAMER CONKEY, Esq., of Amherst. 
" WILLIAM MITCHELL, of Nantucket. 

SAMUEL ROSSITER, Esq., of Great Barrington. 
Secretaries. 
J. M. Wightman, of Boston ; Matthias Ellis, of Carver ; Rodman H. Wells', 
of Adams ; Lewis Chesbrough, of Taunton ; Samuel Willard, Jr. of Deerfield. 

Hon. Levi Lincoln, of Worcester, and Judge Warren, of Boston, were 
appointed to conduct the President elect to the chair. The Vice Presidents 
and Secretaries next took their seats. 

The President then requested Rev. Edward E. Hale, of Worcester, to adU 
dress the Throne of Grace. 



16 

Mr. Proctor, of Danvers, moved that a committee of five be appointed to 
collect, sort and count the votes for Governor. This motion was subsequently 
re-considered, on motion of Hon. Myron Lawrence, of Belchertown. He 
said the people about him wanted a nomination by acclamation. He wanted to 
have a shout raised that would reach the hills of Berkshire. The reconsidera- 
tion was carried unanimously. Mr. Lawrence then nominated GEORGE N. 
BRIGGS, for Governor of the Commonwealth, which was carried amid the 
most enthusiastic cheers. Governor Lincoln then moved that the Hon. JOHN 
REED be nominated for Lieutenant Governor, which was carried with the 
same unanimity and enthusiasm. 

Col. Bullock, of Worcester, moved that a committee of one from each 
county be appointed to nominate two Electors at large. The following is the 
Committee : 

A. H. BULLOCK, of Worcester. N. W. COFFIN, of Suffolk. N. 
SILSBEE, Jr., of Essex. T. RICE, Jr. of Middlesex. E. M. WRIGHT, 
of Hampshire. G. WALKER, of Hampden. A. HOWLAND, of Franklin. 
E. II. KELLOGG, of Berkshire. E. P. TILESTON, of Norfolk. J. ED- 
DY, of Bristol. S. SPRAGUE, of Plymouth. S. HILLIARD, of Barnstable. 
W. C. STARBUCK, of Nantucket and Dukes. 

On motion of Hon. Joseph Bell, the following gentlemen were appointed 
a Committee, to report an Address to the people of Massachusetts : 

Joseph Bell, of Suffolk; Benjamin Thompson, of Middlesex; Ebenezer 
Bradbury, of Essex .• George Denny, of Worcester ; Jehiel Abbott, of Hamp- 
shire ; Horace Gould, of Franklin ; Daniel N. Dewey, of Berkshire ; F. W. 
Lincoln, of Norfolk ; Oliver Ames, Jr., of Bristol ; Philander Washburn, of 
Plymouth ; Charles Marston, of Barnstable ; David Baker, of Nantucket ; 
D. Fisher, of Dukes. 

Mr. Hayden, of Boston, then offered the following resolution, which was 
carried. 

Resolved, That the Delegates to this Convention from the several Con- 
gressional Districts in this Commonwealth be requested to retire and report to 
the Convention, arcandidate for Elector of President and Vice President of the 
United States for each of said Districts. Mr. Nelson, Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on credentials, reported that it appeared that nearly all the cities and 
towns' of this Commonwealth were represented, and that the number of Del- 
egates duly accredited was nine hundred and eighty-three. 

Col. Bullock, Chairman of the Committee to nominate two Electors at large, 
reported that they had unanimously agreed to report the names of— 
Hon. LEVI LINCOLN, of Worcester, 
Hon. EDMUND DWIGHT, of Boston, 
As electors, at large. The following are the District Electors : 
No. 1— ALBERT FEARING, of Boston. 
" 2— DAVID PINGREE, of Salem. 
« 3— JAMES H. DUNCAN, of Haverhill. 
" 4— ISAAC LIVERMORE, of Cambridge. 
" 5— BEN J. F. THOMAS, of Worcester. 
« 6— MYRON LAWRENCE, of Belchertown. 
« 7— ASA HOWLAND, of Conway. 
« 8— H. A. S. DEARBORN, of Roxbury. 
« 9— WM. BAYLIES, of West Bridgewater. 
« 10— WM. R. E ASTON, of Nantucket. 
Mr. Bell, of Boston, then reported the address and resolutions. 
The Convention was ably and eloquently addressed by the Hon. Rufu? 
Choate, Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, Hon. Charles Hudson, and Hon, 
B. F, Thomas. 

After a vote of thanks to the Officers of the Convention, nine cheers for 
Taylor and Fillmore, and six for Briggs and Reed, the Convention adjourned. 






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